William H. Ashley

William Hammond Ashley was born January 5, 1930, in Los Angeles to Hammond and Alda Marie Ashley. His father's work took them to Hawaii where they watched the Japanese bomb the US on Pearl Harbor Day. The family ultimately moved to Myrtle Creek, OR, where Bill completed high school and received his bachelor of science from Oregon State University. He commissioned through the Navy ROTC program in 1952, and went to the Naval Flight Training program, earning his flight wings in 1955. In 1956 he married Lorraine Marie Dion, and subsequently had three children, Sharon, Bruce, and Paul. They were married for 67 years.

Bill's Navy service included serving on the Navy ships USS Coral Sea, USS Helena, USS Newport News, USS Forrestal, USS Shangri La and USS Eldorado. He flew a number of planes, including the A1 Skyraider, F-6F Hellcat, TA-4F Skyhawks, the A-4 Skyhawk, A-6/EA-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair II and F-8 Crusader, and co-piloted several multi-engine airplanes as well as H-34 helicopter aircraft. He made 10 trans-pacific flights in the A-6. His service included support for the Korean and early Vietnam wars, before retiring as a Lieutenant Commander in 1972..

He enjoyed a second career as a Quality Control Inspector for the repair of various Navy carriers, submarines, amphibious ships Spruance destroyers, and Aegis cruisers at NASSCO, and was the welding inspector on the Exxon Valdez tanker.

Once out of the Navy and through his retirement Bill's passions included the Knights of Columbus where he was the Grand Knight for both the South King County Assembly and Valley of the Angels Council. He participated in the Assembly Color Corps Drill team, wrote the Recall Roster for over 6 years, and was instrumental in the church recycling program which they used the funds to support Hurricane Katrina victims, as well as a helped build a Children's Hospital in Uganda, and Parish Mission in Mississippi.

Bill spent over 10,050 hours as a volunteer on the USS Midway museum, both as a docent and in ship restoration, restoring brass electrical panels. Bill was an avid blood donator and donated over 40 gallons of blood during his lifetime! He loved gardening and grew fruit trees, orchids and over 100 dragon fruit plants through the years.

Bill passed over on September 19, 2024 and is preceded in death by his parents; Hammond and Alma Ashley and his wife Lorraine. He is survived by brother Rollin (Diana) Ashley and sisters Jean Lynch and Barbara Ashley; children Sharon Ashley, Bruce (Karen) Ashley and Paul (Alba) Ashley; five grandchildren, Jared (Teruyo) Adams, Kari (Dan) Cunningham, Nevin (Victoria) Ashley, Liam Ashley, Lauren Ashley and three great grandchildren, Addison Cunningham, Eli Cunningham and Caleb Ashley.